Sticking with the hot-hitting Vernon Wells paid off for BTS leader jtfluet5, whose streak grew to 36 games yesterday when the Blue Jays outfielder went 3-for-4 against the White Sox. That’s the sixth-longest streak of 2008, tied alongside four other competitors. Another hit today would push jtfluet5 into fifth place with bassman.

No player was selected more than once by the Top 5 competitors, a rarity, especially considering that group consists of eight users. Albert Pujols (2-for-4) kept mwkegg in second place and pushed him into the 30-game club. Hanley Ramirez (1-for-3) gave albert_lun sole control of third place at 26 games, with ianyankee eliminated from action. And thanks to Dustin Pedroia (2-for-4), Garret Anderson (2-for-4), Chase Utley (1-for-4), Brian McCann (3-for-5) and Derek Jeter (1-for-4), fourth place remained a five-way tie between Dodger_Fan, lpaco1234, mlkyser, pyachamp and spike11870.

Inspired by yesterday’s Fan of the day profile, BTS leader jtfluet5 took another step up the ladder at 35 games when Dustin Pedroia singled in four at-bats vs. Tampa Bay. Another hit would tie jtfluet5 for the sixth-highest streak of 2008.

With driversmasher77 knocked out of the running, mwkegg moved into second place at 29 games, thanks to a 1-for-4 performance from the ever-popular Ichiro Suzuki. The Mariners leadoff man was selected by 8.1 percent of competitors, more than any other hitter.

Also gaining in popularity was Manny Ramirez, who rewarded ianyankee and albert_lun — the third and fourth-place competitors — with a two-run homer against San Diego.

Justin Fluet, better known to BTS competitors as jtfluet5, has vaulted into first place on the BTS leaderboard with a 34-game streak.

Like most residents of Watertown, Mass., Fluet lives and breathes the Boston Red Sox. And like the Red Sox, Fluet has taken off in the last month, thanks in large part to the red-hot bat of Dustin Pedroia — his favorite BTS pick. With Pedroia hitting just about everything that comes his way over the last month (.378 AVG), Fluet finds himself in the midst of a career streak since he started playing in mid-July, an accomplishment that gives him easy bragging rights over his BTS groupmates.

By relying on Pedroia and pouncing on favorable historical matchups, Fluet is hoping to ride September into the record books, much like his favorite club.

With the entire Top 5 getting eliminated over the weekend, jtfluet5 emerged as the new BTS leader at 33 games, thanks to 1-for-4 performance from Ichiro Suzuki yesterday.

The leaderboard breakdown also left brian.gray in second place at 31 games after Derek Jeter went 2-for-3 against Seattle, including a solo home run. Third-place competitor driversmasher77 extended his streak to 29 games after a gutsy selection of rookie Denard Span, who went 2-for-4 vs. Detroit.

Moving into a tie for fourth place was bubblegumga, mwkegg and tu_papi_recive, thanks to the reliable bats of Dustin Pedroia (1-for-4), Mark Teixeira (2-for-5) and Ichiro, respectively.

The BTS leaderboard underwent big changes yesterday, as the top two competitors were both eliminated from action. Hitless performances from Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau ended cubdane’s streak at 35 games and halted huhino’s streak at 33.

The shakeup left three new BTS leaders — jnay017, rustyolson56 and trizzy7 — running the show at 33 games after Vladimir Guerrero went 1-for-4 and Chipper Jones singled in his only at-bat. These three users are the last with a shot at shattering Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game streak.

Guerrero — far and away the most popular pick, at 15.2 percent — also pushed jared_bullock22 and miller_twm27 to 32 games, tied for fourth place with jona831, who benefited from a 1-for-4 showing from Ryan Braun.

The Top 5 — the last remaining BTS competitors capable of reaching 57 games — all survived to play another day. BTS leader cubdane took another step closer to Joe DiMaggio at 35 games after staying with the hot-hitting Dustin Pedroia, who went 1-for-3 against the Orioles.

Also benefiting from Pedroia’s performance was rustyolson56, whose streak improved to 32 games. Keeping pace were his third-place counterparts jnay017 and trizzy7 (yesterday’s Fan of the Day), thanks to the steady hitting of Raul Ibanez (2-for-4) and Albert Pujols (1-for-4), respectively.

Picking Pujols also kept second-place competitor huhino in the running, right behind cubdane, at 33 games.

With damayr out of the running, cubdane became the new BTS leader over Labor Day weekend, extending his streak to 33 games yesterday thanks to a 2-for-2 performance from Lance Berkman.

Second-place competitor huhino kept pace at 31 games after Xavier Nady singled in five at-bats against Detroit. Also staying alive was jnay017, rustyolson56 and trizzy7, who moved into a three-way tie for third at 30 games, thanks to the reliable hitting of Derek Jeter (2-for-3), Ichiro Suzuki (1-for-6) and Magglio Ordonez (3-for-4), respectively.

With 27 games left to play, these Top 5 competitors are the last with a shot at beating Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game streak.

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